The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are planning to meet their Iranian counterpart in Switzerland on Friday in a bid to persuade the country to give up its nuclear ambitions for peace.
David Lammy from London, Jean-Noël Barrot from Paris, and Johann Wadephul from Berlin are to meet with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday for talks they hope will be able to break the spiral of violence. Per Reuters, the three will first have talks with the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas in Geneva on Friday before then meeting with Araghchi, although the EU apparatchik won’t be present at the main meeting.
The talks are intended to focus on the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme, the somewhat ambiguous extent of which triggered last week’s strikes. Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to see “a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict”, while the German government has sought to reassure Iran it isn’t too late to negotiate.
At the weekend, Germany’s Foreign Minister Wadephul said: “Germany, together with France and Britain are ready. We’re offering Iran immediate negotiations about the nuclear programme, I hope [this offer] is accepted… This is also a key prerequisite for reaching a pacification of this conflict, that Iran presents no danger to the region, for the state of Israel or to Europe.”
Iranian state media confirmed on Thursday afternoon that Araghchi would attend the Geneva meeting. The Guardian reports stated that while Araghchi had already spoken to those European ministers by telephone in recent days, he has rebuffed a call from Trump envoy Steve Witkoff because Iran ultimately blames the United States for Israel’s strikes on Iranian facilities.
Nevertheless Iran has repeatedly expressed its anger at those European states in recent days, raising the question of how open to constructive dialogue Tehran is. Araghchi himself called the E3 — the UK, France, and Germany — inept and malign and said they would be responsible for any reactions he said Iran was being compelled to make.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei cited the First and Second World Wars as a reason why Germany should not attempt to involve itself as it is “perpetually on the wrong side of history”. Of France, Baqaei condemned Paris for not opposing Israeli strikes and said the Macron government has distorted Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is purely civil, not military.
Even inside Germany, senior politicians have cast doubt on the utility of dialogue between European states and Iran at this stage. Armin Laschet, the chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee told Die Welt that ultimately talks had to be with America, not Europe.
He said: “How far is [Iran] willing to give in and back down from its nuclear program? The signals we’re hearing these days indicate that Iran is seeking talks… In my view, the Americans are the decisive factor, rather than the European foreign ministers. A lot of the stakes are in Washington right now.”
Of the goals of talks, Laschet cited persuading Iran to give up on nuclear weapons but drew the line short at regime change, which he said 21st century history so far had proven to be dangerous. He told the broadsheet: “The goal is to stop the nuclear program. Iran must say: I’ll let the international authorities in, and I won’t continue enriching uranium… the goal of regime change, of removing the mullah system, cannot be achieved from the outside.
“We’ve learned that over the past 20 years. All these attempts in Iraq or Libya have ultimately ended in chaos. Therefore, this movement must come from within.”
Editor’s note: this piece was amended on 19/06/25 to note the Iranian delegation had confirmed they were planning to attend the talks.
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